LaceDarius Dunn let go of the shot from the top of the key, and the
ball hit the rim a couple of times before finally falling through
the hoop for Baylor.
"I popped back and I was wide open," Dunn said.
The next one from the right corner swished the net.
Those consecutive 3-pointers late by Dunn in a 33-second
span, both coming right after Texas A&M had made 3s, kept the
No. 24 Bears in front and they held on for a 70-66 victory over the
No. 22 Aggies on Wednesday night.
"We did a nice job on Lace until the very end," Aggies coach
Mark Turgeon said. "Lace's two 3s were huge, especially the second
one after we'd cut it back to one."
Texas A&M (19-8, 8-5 Big 12) had cut what was a 13-point
deficit to one when Donald Sloan hit a 3-pointer from the left
corner with 4:08 left. Then came Dunn's rim-rattler before B.J.
Holmes hit from long range and Baylor's sharpshooter responded with
another.
"I just wanted to come out and take good shots," said Dunn,
who finished with 23 points. "Coach (Scott) Drew always tells me
that my first couple of looks ought to be good so the rest of the
game will be a little bit more smooth for me."
Dunn made a pair of 3-pointers in the first 4 minutes to push
Baylor ahead 10-6. His other two came when they were needed the
most.
Baylor (21-6, 8-5) had had gone 4 1/2 minutes without a field
goal, since Dunn made a floater in traffic to make it 56-46 with
8:16 left, before making the first of his late 3-pointers.
After A&M had gotten within one again, Dunn hit two free
throws with 17 seconds left.
Sloan, who led A&M with 22 points, then missed what would
have been a tying 3-pointer. Quincy Acy was fouled on the rebound
with 2.2 seconds left, then made one of his free throws.
"It is probably one of the most physical games that we know
we have on our schedule all year," Sloan said. "It is going to be
tough, it is going to be scrappy. We knew it was going to be a good
game."
The Aggies were within 67-66 in the final minute when Ray
Turner made two free throws after being fouled by Ekpe Udoh, who
had just had a turnover following Sloan's twisting baseline jumper.
But Udoh made up for that when he rebounded a miss by
teammate Tweety Carter, and Dunn hit two free throws after being
fouled on the same possession.
Josh Lomers added 10 points and seven rebounds for Baylor,
while Udoh and Acy both had nine points.
Bryan Davis had 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Holmes had
11 points for Texas A&M, which had won five of six with a 78-71
victory over Baylor 2 1/2 weeks ago.
The 201st meeting between the schools located only about 90
miles apart and at different points on the Brazos River was only
the second when both were in the Top 25. The other was two years
ago, when Baylor won 116-110 in five overtimes at College Station.
"It was a typical Baylor vs. Texas A&M game," Drew said.
With only three games left in the regular season, Baylor and
Texas A&M are tied with Texas for fourth place in the Big 12.
The top four teams in the standings get a first-round bye in the
conference tournaments.
"It will probably be decided on the last day of the season,"
said Drew, the seventh-year coach now 102-101 at Baylor. "I am very
excited about that opportunity with these guys."
Baylor has games left at Oklahoma and Texas Tech before
playing the regular-season finale at home against No. 21 Texas.
A&M hosts Texas and Oklahoma State before going to Oklahoma.
Baylor surged ahead 52-39 with 10-0 run in the second half.
Acy made a strong move inside to score over Ray Turner, then
Carter made a bounce pass to Dunn streaking wide open for a layup
before A.J. Walton and Fred Ellis both hit 3-pointers.
Texas A&M was ahead for the first time since the opening
minute, when David Loubeau picked up a loose ball after a block by
Udoh and scored to make it 27-25 with just under 5 minutes left in
the first half.
But the Bears never trailed after the 6-foot-10 Udoh hit a
3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 31-28 only 2:22 before
halftime.
Baylor built a 21-12 lead less than 8 1/2 minutes into the
game on Acy's two-handed slam. That came after consecutive missed
3-pointers by Dunn still led to three-point plays, Dunn getting his
own rebound on one of them and driving for a rebound and Anthony
Jones with a putback on the other. Both were fouled and made the
free throws.
